UCDI Harnesses Innovative Biotechnologies and Uses Hydrogen as the Energy Source to Convert Carbon Dioxide into Various Products that Help with Global Food Security and Address Global Warming

Our Mission

UCDI is an R&D-focused Venture Company of The University of Tokyo. We are Working toward Contributing to Society by Bringing about a Low-carbon World and a Solution to Global Food Security Issues.

We will do this by sophisticatedly leveraging innovative biotechnologies centered on our proprietary high-protein hydrogen bacteria, the UCDI strain, to make products in four areas: biofeeds (feed-use protein and dietary supplements), high-performance proteins, bio-jet fuel, and chemicals, from CO2 and hydrogen.

Today, more than seven billion people inhabit our planet and this number is expected to surpass nine billion by the year 2050. Forecasts also predict that the worldwide population will reach at least ten billion by the end of this century. This sharp increase in global population is the root cause of various issues facing our planet, including environmental pollution and food security.

Regarding global food security, world-wide environmental disasters and rapid changes in diet and eating habits are causing the livestock and aquaculture industries to increasingly face protein shortages as well as soaring prices for protein used in animal feed.

In the areas of chemical manufacturing and energy, there is a demand for contributions that help combat global warming by reducing reliance on fossil resources.

What We Do

UCDI is Developing Business in Four Areas

Biofeeds (Feed-use protein and dietary supplements)

UCDI is accelerating the early industrialization of purely domestic biofeeds as highly sustainable products to fundamentally solve the serious issue of insufficient animal protein materials (fish meal) for feed in the livestock and aquaculture industries.

High-performance proteins

With population growth and global expansion of the middle class, the increase in per person consumption of meat and fish on a global scale continues. It has been pointed out that there might not be enough animal protein in the world by 2025 or 2030. UCDI is aiming to manufacture animal protein that has little impact on the environment, and is gentle to the environment.

Bio-jet fuel

To achieve the International Civil Aviation Organization’s goal of zero increases of CO2 emissions from aviation from 2020, it will be necessary to improve fuel efficiency and also introduce bio-jet fuel. UCDI is working on manufacturing a raw material for bio-jet fuel with biocatalyst preparation technology, utilizing CO2.

Chemicals

With a process that radically revolutionizes existing technical concepts, UCDI is developing manufacturing technology to produce various chemicals from CO2 and hydrogen. This will contribute to reducing the chemical industry’s reliance on fossil resources and bringing about GSC (Green Sustainable Chemistry).